1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image forming device and an image forming program, and more particularly, to an image forming device which requests user authentication for the start of printout process, and an image forming program used in the image forming device.
2. Description of the Related Art
In recent years, the image forming device is connected to a plurality of information processing devices (terminals) by way of a network, and is shared by a plurality of users using the plurality of information processing devices. The image forming device is a digital multifunction peripheral (MultiFunction Peripheral (MFP), a Scan Print Copy (SPC), or All In One (AIO)) having at least two or more functions of a printer, a facsimile, a copying machine, a scanner, and the like. The information processing device (terminal) is a personal computer (PC), or the like. The image forming device and the information processing device are communicably connected to each other by way of a communication network such as Local Area Network (LAN) and the Internet to configure an image forming system. The image forming system can be formed by connecting one image forming device and one information processing device at one-to-one in its minimum configuration. Recently, however, a large-scale image forming system is often built up in which a plurality of image forming devices and a plurality of information processing devices are connected to each other.
When the user attempts to output a printed material of a desired document using the image forming device in such image forming system, the user uses the information processing device to specify the data file of the relevant document stored in the image forming system, specify the image forming device to execute the printout of the relevant document, and finally, input an instruction to execute the printout to the information processing device.
The information processing device sends job data generated using the specified data file and various setting data related to the printout to the specified image forming device. The image forming device that received the job data executes printing based on the job data. The document printed material is discharged from a paper discharge tray of the image forming device. The user then goes to the image forming device and collects the discharged document printed material.
However, the user is not necessarily nearby the image forming device when the document printed material is being discharged from the image forming device. Since the image forming device is shared by a plurality of users, another user might be near the image forming device. Thus, a problem of ensuring information security related to the document printed material discharged from the image forming device arises in the image forming system.
JP 6-183110 A discloses a printing device (printer). Such printing device receives print data from a plurality of host computers connected by way of a network, and executes printing based on the received print data. The print data sent to the printer may contain a password. Thus, when receiving the print data from the computer, the printer determines whether or not a password is contained in the received print data. When determined that the received data contains a password, the printer executes the printout based on the received print data only after confirming that the user has correctly input the password through a user interface of the printer.
The printing device disclosed in JP 6-183110 A executes printing when the password given to the print data and the password input by the user match. The image forming device thereby ensures information security of the information indicated by the print data in this manner.
The technique disclosed in JP 6-183110 A is a technique in which the printing device requests a password to be input by the user, that is, user authentication as a trigger for defining the start of printout. In the technique disclosed in JP 6-183110 A, the user must input information related to the setting of the user authentication such as password when instructing printout to the printing device.
JP 2006-334873 A discloses an image forming device for executing printing in response to a printing instruction from an external device. When the received printing instruction requests to ensure security, the authentication process for ensuring the security is performed, and the print data related to the printing instruction is acquired only after the authentication process is successfully completed in the image forming device.
The image forming device disclosed in JP 2006-334873 A thus suppresses the capacity of the memory necessary for keeping the print data at low level, and ensures information security on the printing process.
JP 2005-165844 A discloses a printing system. The printing system includes a printer for executing printing based on the received print data, and a client device for transmitting the print data to the printer. In such printing system, print control information can be additionally added to the print data. The print control information contains limiting information related to the process on the print data and instruction information for printing a predetermined image. The print control information to be additionally added is information mainly provided to control a specific process. Accordingly, in the printing system, the printer can control the process on the received print data based on the limit information contained in the received print control information, or print the print data and print the predetermined image contained in the received print control information.
According to such configuration, the printing system disclosed in JP 2005-165844 A can print a signature (predetermined image) indicating document acknowledgment, or can prohibit or permit printing using the received print data.
Numerous documents related to information security of the image forming system have been proposed.
The image forming device for performing user authentication through a predetermined user authentication means arranged in the image forming device at the start of execution of the printout as disclosed in JP 6-183110 A is already widely known. The technical methodology adopted in the technique of JP 6-183110 A is an effective methodology for ensuring the user to be near the image forming device when the image forming device actually executes the printout.
However, it is sometimes bothersome for the user to perform user authentication on the predetermined user authentication means arranged in the image forming device when causing the image forming device to actually start the execution of the printout. In particular, the user particularly feels the user authentication bothersome when the user outputs the printed material of the document to be distributed to a great number of people.